DAVIDsTEA

Plus side of owning so many teas is that when you randomly find yourself craving a coconut and berry blend you get to then answer that craving with “ok, which one should I make?”. I chose this one because it was the quickest in my stash to find, though I did add a little bit of coconut agave both to boost the coconut and sweetness level to match where my cravings were. The raspberry was such perfection – soft and sweet with the tenderness of flaky raspberry turnovers or other types of pastries. The buttery coconut notes contributed to that for sure, and the black base here is so full bodied and malty with a nice mild astringency. Good texture.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Cold Brew!

There’s an IG trend right now of cold brewing your tea straight in milk, so that’s what I did with this tea. I know it makes an excellent latte so I figured this would work out great! I used oat milk for my milk of choice, and cold brewed it for over 24 hours – making sure to shake every six hours ro so to agitate the leaves and assist in steeping.

The resulting brew was delicious – actually way more raspberry forward than I expected but still had that creamy and pastry like toasted coconut note and malty black tea flavour that I know and expect from this tea. All the flavours in the blend also compliment the distinct oat flavour from the oat milk, as well.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Now this is a throwback tea!

This is one of the many returning limited edition fruity teas that were recently added to the DT website, and this one definitely makes me nostalgic – not just for some old school DT blends, but for that era of Steepster as well. I will always associate this tea with several people who are no longer here on Steepster (some of which I’m still connected with still though, thankfully) because I remember how much this tea blew up here on Steepster through swaps and word of mouth – I know that’s definitely why I ended up trying it back in the day!

From what I can remember, I liked this tea well enough back then but I was never really into this blend the same way other people were – I’ve had it a couple times in recent memory now while waiting for it to relaunch, and once since it’s launched and it really does match what I remember it tasting like. The dry leaf and steeped aroma are both sweet and buttery/creamy with rich coconut and raspberry pastry notes. What I appreciate most about this tea is that is has some rich flavour, but it’s not excessively sugary/sweet and it also doesn’t come even close to covering the taste of the black tea! It’s well balanced, and as a blend honestly very simple.

That said, I don’t find that the creamy/buttery coconut and pastry notes are as present in the actual flavour of the tea – though there is still that kind of raspberry croissant with a hint of coconut vibe a little bit still. I also personally just don’t love the chosen black tea in this base – it’s a little drying to me, and the tannin/autumnal leaf kind of profile I’m getting don’t suit the raspberry and coconut that well to me. It’s still a nice blend, but like when it was first released it’s one that I like well enough but just don’t feel strongly about positively or negatively.

Though, milk does make a world of difference in my opinion!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Sipdown (197/199)!

Well, only kind of a sipdown; it sounds like I’m going to be sending the rest of this to akgrowngirl in a swap for some peppermint matcha. I actually just finished packing up this and the other tea I’m sending her some of, but I couldn’t resist making a small cup of this one (and the other blend as well) before it went away.

This is actually a better cup out of the ones I’ve made; the coconut is REALLY on point and is lingering just stunningly in the aftertaste in a really delightful and decadent way. The raspberry, however, is pretty lost in translation which I find is often the case with this one; that’s a bit sad.

I’m somewhat happy overall, however, that this cup doesn’t make me regret sending it all to akgrowngirl; however I hope she finds that magic in it that people like VariaTEA (who has this rated 100) seem to get with every cup.

Also, semi-side note: I managed to get the 20g package of this and the other tea (and secret bonus sample) to all fit in a regular envelope! Hooray! I am getting better at shipping things!

And so concludes yesterday’s backlog! And consequently Tre just got home, so I don’t get to log any of today’s tea… So, tomorrow there’ll be backlog all over again. What an unpleasant cycle.

Teabags from Kat_Maria showed up a few minutes ago, so over 200 teas… Again. At least several are just one bag amounts, so easy sipdowns. I’m going to try to finish them all today, and maybe sipdown a few other things?

This cup was nice, though! I steeped the leaves for a shorter amount of time than usual, and consequently the raspberry and coconut were more prominent. Sadly, this cup was also fairly oily? Not just visually, but kind of it mouthfeel too, but that was maybe a fair trade off?

My fantasy is a well paying (above minimum wage) full time job, for my laptop to start working again, and to get my teeth all fixed without going broke.

Anyway, I put a start on that yesterday by going for my interview – which would be a full time, above minimum wage labor/retail sales job that, after three months (probationary period) would have health benefits like dental. I think the interview went well. Meaning, I’m pretty sure I answered all their questions well, though I’m not sure if I meet their qualifications in regard to past experience working labor jobs…

Right now I’m just waiting to hear back, though still browsing job hunting sites in the meantime just in case. Maybe my expectations for where I want to work are too high? I really need a job…

This was the travel tea I took with me for the day though (I had errands to do after the interview), aptly picked because of the name and the funny mood I was in.

Taste wise, it was OK but I’ve decided that there’s just not enough raspberry in the tea to satisfy me; if that’s what I was craving I would not reach for this one. However, maybe I would if I was craving a coconut tea. Although, I have Buttered Rum for that too…

Glad I’m finally getting to try this! All the awesome Steepster reviews (I blame you, VariaTEA) have just made me even more eager to try it out. I can’t believe this is something I’ve passed up in store because I like all the things in it, and dry it just smells rich, and coconutty with such a lovely fruity raspberry quality to it. Mmmm!

So, parameters are 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in 10 oz. of boiling water – steeped for five minutes. It brewed up to smell very strongly of coconut, though not really an raspberry to the smell. I’m glad I’ve hidden this in the furthermost regions of the tea storage closet – if it was out in the open I might be worried about Tre using up my sample; one of few kind of tea he independently makes for himself is anything with strong amounts of coconut.

I waited to try this for a little while (was drink A Rabbit’s Garden first), so now that I’ve gotten to the mug it’s significantly cooler – though still kind of warm. I figured I’d do this one second since the fact it’s good iced is actually in the product description – so I felt like that was a better approach than trying A Rabbit’s Garden cold when it could be lousy that way…

So taste wise: Lots of strong and rich coconut initially, in a way that really reminds me of Buttered Rum, minus some of the more pronounced butterscotch candy notes that blend features. Once I got over the tons of coconut I immediately picked up on the sweetness of the raspberry. It’s quite juicy and well pronounced – sticking around for a lengthy amount of time in the aftertaste. It also compliments the coconut really well. The black base is nice here as well, and I can’t help but feel that maybe there are some floral notes here? I’m sorta picking up on something like that.

It’s really good, though! I’m not sure yet if I’d want more, because it does really remind me of Buttered Rum and I have a ton of that right now, but it’ll be well loved while it is in my cupboard.

Another sample received with an order. Leaves smell of cocoa and hazelnut. Again the leaves are too small for my infuser and I have tea leaves in my cup. After steeping for 4 minutes I smell and taste hazelnut, but no chocolate. I added a bit too much water so it’s not very flavorful.

As it cools, this tea tastes medicinal. Still no chocolate and not much hazelnut. I’ll try it again since I have enough of the sample for one more, but I don’t have high hopes.

Very sweet,long aftertaste

Sipdown (216)!

Made as a latte.

I want to be able to say that I’m really sad to have finished this tea off, but with the infrequency I drank it over the nearly two years I actually owned it I don’t think I can get away with that being a true statement. Honestly, I’ll move on pretty quickly with this one. I’m not a huge chocolate/tea person overall anyway, and I already own a few other chocolate mate teas to get me by.

This still made a killer latte though; I think it honestly tasted more like hot chocolate than the actual “Hot Chocolate” pu’erh blend we carry. It’s richer and creamier, while still having some earthiness like the pu’erh based blend has and then it gets added nuance from the cinnamon/nutmeg notes. The nutmeg is interesting in particular, ‘cause there isn’t actually nutmeg in the blend but it really does taste like there is. We should really consider putting out like a nutmeg/eggnog or nutmeg/hot chocolate blend this year in the Winter collection…

But yes, good by creamy/silky Mexican Hot Chocolate tea! You were the OG Hot Chocolate beverage from DT…

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Commute Tea (from yesterday)!

Added a splash of vanilla coffee creamer to my brewed up tea, largely just to cool it down enough to drink right away. It did wonders for the flavour though. Normally this is pretty decadent on it’s own; it has great cocoa, cinnamon, and earthy flavours and a solid level of sweetness. But with the creamer added it drowned out the earthy notes just a little, and drew out the cocoa and cinnamon while making the mouthfeel a lot more thick/rich and even adding a kind of caramel note on top of the creamy vanilla. It was like some sort of super high end cocoa, but with the benefit of having the roasty mate and that caffeine kick I needed so early in the morning.

Normally I nurse my mug of tea throughout the whole bus ride (half hour) to work, but this was gone not even a third of the way into the trip. And then I sort of just felt kind of sad? Just ’cause I wanted so much more of this…

Made as a Coconut Milk Latte; tasted like great hot chocolate with the added bonus of a caffeine boost. Honestly, I can probably just summarize it that briefly and call it a day.

More importantly, the last few days have been CRAZY and very ‘life altering’. Again, I can probably just sum them up with jot notes or, at least, “bite size” bits of information. It’s easier for me to process that way just writing everything out…

- Got my new glasses/frames! That’s probably the most ‘tame’ thing that’s taken place…
- Something happened with Tre that I honestly will probably never forgive him for
- Please don’t ask me what it was; it’s very personal!
- Because of what took place I felt it in my best interest to move out and quickly
- Last night both my parents came down to Saskatoon & helped me pack all of my stuff
- I gave my landlord my last month’s rent and official notice I’m leaving
- I don’t know if Tre will continue living there now that he doesn’t have a roommate
- And honestly I don’t care
- I also had to quit my job since I left quickly and couldn’t give two weeks notice
- So I’m currently unemployed; I’ll hopefully start job hunting by next week
- And I am now back in Regina living with my mom
- I’m struggling with this a lot right now; it feels like I’ve taken a huge step backwards
- And despite being surrounded by family I feel very isolated and alone
- The last time I was in Regina I was highly depressed
- And I worry being back long term may bring about another depressed episode
- But I think that’s better than being in Saskatoon right now
- I’d also really appreciate people not bringing up Tre for a while
- For at least a while I very much need to distance myself from him/the idea of him
- For my mental well being…

Ironically, all of this went down on September 1st which was the two year anniversary of our moving to Saskatoon. As my friend Robyn said, it was ‘fateful’. So that’s where I’m at right now; and maybe it’s over sharing but I felt it was important for me to get that written out so the people I talk to daily here on Steepster know that I’m uncomfortable talking about Tre right now.

Also, in case it wasn’t obvious – my address definitely isn’t the same one I was using so Steepster friends please don’t send anything out to that address; I’ll be going back at the end of the month to clean up the apartment better (we left in such a hurry) and pick up any mail waiting for me but I don’t want to have to go back down to get stuff after that. If you’d like my new address, just PM me and I’d be happy to give it out.

Early afternoon iced latte!

I hardly ever make iced lattes, but because I forgot about this one as it was steeping (it got a painfully extended 20 min. steep time) today I was able to make that happen – and it was really good! Because of the super long steep time the flavours were very strong, albeit pretty duo-tone: chocolate and cinnamon. Definitely tasted like really fancy chocolate milk but in a good way.

Refreshing with the caffeine buzz snuck in there (and finally kicking in a few hours later).

Well, just because I didn’t get my Cocoa Canela Eggnog Latte yesterday doesn’t mean I wasn’t still craving a cup of that lovely, Mexican Hot Chocolate tea – so that’s what I picked for my work tea this morning, and I just finished it off.

Carrying this to work was like navigating a minefield. It’s about +5C today after weeks of -10C to -20C type weather and there’s water and slush and slick little ice patches everywhere. I had to think REALLY HARD about where I walked: one miss step and I would have been sprawled on the ground covered in chocolate, and not in the fun way either.

It was definitely lovely taste wise: mostly chocolate with a splash of cinnamon and a lot of nutmeg. Warming, would be a good word for it. Unfortunately, the mate is doing nothing to wake me up and I still feel like absolute, sluggish/sleepy garbage – with a sore tooth and headache on top of it.

Seriously; WHY SO MUCH CHRISTMAS MUSIC!? And it’s not just here at Calendar Club anymore. Sobey’s started playing their Christmas music last night so I get to drown in carols all day now. Ugh!

Sipdown (111)!

In my timolino with some milk. I actually didn’t expect or want this to be a sipdown; I thought I had enough left for at least two or three more cups so I was very upset when I had remembered that incorrectly – and I had such strong cravings that I couldn’t talk myself out of making it.

It was delicious. Mexican Hot Chocolate Tea!? Yeah! It’s back on my wishlist now; I will be restocking the next time I’m at a DT! Though no clue when that’ll be; transit lockout is still a thing so I don’t have a time I can reasonably get to a DT without shelling out $25 for a taxi. Ugh.

Mmm! This is still such a great occasional treat! I’m really happy that, along side my customary cold brew, I started the day off with this one. I don’t know if I’d ever want a big tin of it, but I do always want to have at least a little around…

And, I’ve made my 30g purchase of it really stretch too!

But this morning this was chalked full of yummy cocoa, sweet cinnamon, and nutmeg. It would have been perfect with milk but, alas, I don’t have any in the house. Such a shame. Still; it was tasty. Like hot chocolate; but with more depth and earthiness.

Also; I just finished season 3 of Gossip Girl and, oh, my heart! It has been RIPPED FROM MY CHEST. How could Chuck sleep with Jenny!? And then, the almost proposal. NOOOO! I just want my beloved OTP to get their happily ever after, fuck a lot, and have beautiful babies.

And nothing kills me as much as the look in Chuck’s eyes as his heart, like mine, shatters into tiny, tiny fragments.

I’ve been working so hard at drinking only teas I’m working towards sipping down that I decided today to reward myself with another tea that I’m not aiming to sipdown any time soon; I just wanted it because I wanted it. So I made this in a timolino with some milk and it was awesome!

I need to start drinking the teas in my cupboard again and just having what I want to have; I miss some of my blends! But I don’t feel like I’ve earned it, heh. I think once I’m down to 150 I’ll let myself drink non-sipdown teas again. This “cheat” was awesome though.

Creamy, sweet cinnamon hot chocolate with a mate energy burst! Mmm! And, I see that this is on the DT website again, so maybe I can stop hoarding?

This is the other other tea I had as a latte in store yesterday (I was really early meeting her so I had plenty of time to kill and I felt bad just sitting in the store; which was the perfect excuse for more tea!). It was a strategic choice because I knew I’d need the energy to make it through the metal concert I was going to see later in the evening.

I have to say, I didn’t enjoy this one as a latte as much as I thought I would. Basically, the taste was the same as it is straight (I guess the chocolate is pretty milky) but just with a really thick and creamy mouthfeel.

So, it wasn’t bad just not mind blowing either.

I was right, my local store does still have this one! Although, it’s in a silver tin on the far left side of the wall (away from all the other teas), without a label just marked as “CC-M”. I took a guess that that stood for “Cocoa Canela – Mate” and was correct!

It’s nice having this in my cupboard again, and I immediately had to brew myself up a mug of it. Still amazing like that first cup from Isaila! I definitely think this tastes miles better than HI’s Cacao – although the key difference is that this is quite heavily caffeinated. But it’s perfect: sweet, milky chocolate with a dash of cinnamon sugar and little teeny whiffs of earth mate!

If this really, truly is getting discontinued then it’s a crying shame!

Sipdown (181)!

Thank you Isaila for adding this into our swap – it’s something I’ve been curious about for a while, so I’m very happy to be getting the chance to try it. I never know whether this is officially discontinued or not because it’s no longer up on the DAVIDsTEA website, but sometimes the two local stores in my city (and then one in Regina) have it in stock…

Parameters were about 2 tsp. (a little less than that, actually) in 10 oz. of water, steeped with boiling water for three minutes. There are several floaties and bits that managed to escape my strainer, and the water is n oily, murky brown that smells like rich cinnamon dusted chocolate. Mmm!

Taste wise – this is totally hot chocolate in a cup. The chocolate is sweet and creamy, albeit slightly watered down from where I usually make my own hot chocolate. I like strong flavours. The cinnamon is about equal to the chocolate in flavour, and I’m impressed at how it managed to stay present and sweet without bringing in an undesirable amount of heat. There’s a light earthiness in that taste that I’d attribute to the mate.

Tre made breakfast this morning, so I’m drinking this with my breakfast and it’s the perfect accompaniment. Toast, over easy eggs (perfectly done) and absolutely nasty hashbrowns. Honestly, the hashbrowns would probably be great except he added so much salt to them that I can feel it crunching when I take a bite. Yuck! I don’t like salt. And, apple pie as ‘dessert’!

Overall, this is surprisingly good and I would happily drink more and, perhaps, would even buy a small bag (30g?) of it to enjoy a few more cups.

Thank you Isaila!

Holy crap is this good. Rich chocolatey flavour, with a little tiny bit of spice. Tastes just like a zesty hot chocolate without the thickness of a hot chocolate. Exactly what I’ve been craving.

I seriously think I might have to buy a tin. I just wish I could afford it.

Edit: Scratch that. Dairy reaction….ughhh stomach hurts. I’ll still be finishing this one off eventually though, because I like it. A lot. :( Why does my body not seem to like anything I really like?

First infusion: very sweet topnotes, even bubblegum! Creamy, too… how does it do that?
Second infusion: still bubblegummy. How strange. And a lot of colour still coming through in the infusion!

Holy moly, I was not expecting the bright orange colour of this tea. I guess I didn’t look at the ingredients closely enough though, because it would have been easy to guess! This is a very sweet and creamy tea. Good for afternoon tea.